Car insurance rates are going up due to theft. Here’s what to know – National | 24CA News
Insurance charges for some automobiles are growing in Canada on account of a rising auto theft disaster.
Rates.ca, an insurance coverage value combination web site, studies that insurance coverage premiums for automobile fashions most frequently stolen have elevated between 25 to 50 per cent during the last two years.
“To our knowledge, some insurers are applying this ‘high auto theft risk surcharge’ only in certain high-risk regions and/or to certain high-risk vehicles,” the Insurance Bureau of Canada advised Global News Wednesday, the day after the Rates.ca report was launched.
“Many insurers are also waiving this surcharge if the policyholder opts to take proactive steps, outlined by the insurer, to better protect their vehicle.”
The impacted fashions embrace the Honda CR-V, essentially the most generally stolen mannequin in Canada, in addition to the Lexus RX sequence, Ford F-150 and Honda Civic, based on Équité Association, which is investigating the rise in thefts.
“It’s a national crisis,” Bryan Gastl, vice-president of Investigative Services at Équité, advised Global News. “In 2023, the first six months are proving to be worse than 2022.”
Gast beforehand advised Global News that Canada has turn into a “source country” for stolen automobiles and worldwide thieves are concentrating on right here because of the ease of theft. Stolen automobiles are shipped off to locations akin to Africa to internet a revenue for the thieves.
Insurance corporations have taken successful because of the greater thefts. In 2022, the insurance coverage trade misplaced $1 billion on account of theft claims, based on Rates.ca, a big enhance from 2021.
Thefts in Ontario rose almost 50 per cent between 2021 and 2022, whereas Quebec was over 50 per cent, Alberta was almost 20 per cent and Atlantic Canada was up almost 35 per cent, based on Équité.
Insurance corporations now appear to be responding to the price of auto theft.
According to Rates.ca’s report, a 35-year-old male driver with no prior convictions noticed a 26 per cent enhance in parts of their auto insurance coverage between 2022 and 2023 for a Honda CR-V.
In addition to greater premiums, some insurance coverage corporations, akin to CAA, are additionally charging an additional $500 for automobiles with excessive charges of theft, however the surcharge might be eliminated as soon as drivers show they’ve bought an anti-theft system, akin to a wheel lock.
Other corporations, akin to Aviva, Gore Mutual and TD Insurance, are requiring prospects to put in a monitoring system from Canadian firm Tag to keep away from a “High Theft Vehicle” surcharge, based on Rates.ca.
The set up prices round $400 and locations particular person trackers on generally offered elements of the automobile to make resale tougher and restoration extra doubtless. Some corporations provide reimbursement for the Tag set up whereas others simply take away the surcharge, the report mentioned.
Daniel Ivans, gross sales group lead with Rates.ca, advised Global News that the additional surcharge is a reasonably new method by insurance coverage corporations taken up within the final couple of months. Only a number of are doing so at present however that will change sooner or later, he mentioned.
Ivans mentioned prospects will doubtless obtain a discover within the mail about their premiums growing after which could also be given the choice to get it eliminated if sure anti-theft measures are taken.
“A lot of markets are giving options (to reduce the surcharge),” Ivans mentioned.
To assist stop auto theft, Équité recommends a “layered” method that features taking a number of measures to discourage thieves. Those embrace holding your automobile doorways locked always, parking your automobile in well-lit areas and a safe storage if doable, turning off your key FOB when at house or putting it in an RFID-blocking pouch to keep away from entry by thieves, and utilizing a wheel lock.
When requested how the federal authorities is responding to the rise in thefts, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) mentioned in an e mail Wednesday that its assets are “strategically allocated to remain operationally flexible to respond to threats or service demands at our ports of entry.”
“The CBSA assesses the risk of all marine containers to identify potentially high-risk shipments. All containers and the goods inside must be declared and each declaration is subject to a risk assessment.”
The company mentioned it could additionally use detection know-how akin to X-ray or gamma-ray machines on containers to detect the presence of automobiles.
— with information from Global News’ Anne Gaviola
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
